It was 10:10 a.m. Tuesday when the bells tolled in Tucson. On a day of remembrance, many residents of the Arizona city rang bells in unison -- some shaking multiple ones looped together on strings. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild chose to ring a bell at a downtown fire station. It was all to mark the second anniversary of the Tuscon shooting. The bells tolled 19 times -- one ring for each victim of the attack in which a gunman killed six people and wounded 13, including then-U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.)

TUCSON - Tourism officials here have long lured visitors and their dollars to the region with images of fantastic desert sunsets, wellness resorts and endless nature trails. But to entice their most prized foreign visitors, they tout great shopping at good prices. Louis Vuitton, Dillard's and Apple attract Tucson's neighbors in Mexico, who account for nearly 68% of its international tourists. For decades, millions of Mexican shoppers from neighboring Sonora and Sinaloa have trekked to Arizona for a full day, and sometimes a long weekend, dedicated to buying clothes, electronics and other goods.

The Tucson Unified School District was forced to shut down its Mexican American Studies program earlier this year after Arizona Supt. of Public Instruction John Huppenthal threatened to withhold millions of dollars in state aid. Huppenthal said the program violated a state law banning classes that promote "racial resentment," encourage "ethnic solidarity" or advocate the overthrow of the United States. Fortunately, Huppenthal's attempt to bully the district with this obnoxious law wasn't entirely successful.

There's a lot going on for the holidays at Loews Ventana Canyon . The Tucson desert resort hosts a tree-lighting ceremony Nov. 27 and nightly concerts Dec. 10-21. Join in the fun on a Travelzoo escape that knocks room rates down to $109 a night. The deal: Buy the coupon from Travelzoo , then book the room with the resort. Winter is the best time to visit the Sonoran Desert, when temperatures are warm but not hot. This resort made the top 10 list of golf resorts in Conde Nast's 2012 Traveler Readers' Choice Awards too. When: The offer is good until 9:59 Pacific time Wednesday for stays Nov. 18-Jan.

November 8, 2012 | By Ashley Powers and Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

Mark E. Kelly stared at the young man who, nearly two years ago, brought a gun to a Tucson plaza and shot Kelly's wife in the head and killed six other people. The attack left Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman, partially blind, unable to use her right arm and struggling to piece together sentences, Kelly told a federal judge Thursday during the gunman's sentencing. Jared Lee Loughner also wounded a dozen more outside a grocery store where Giffords had been shaking hands with constituents.

TUCSON - She probably never imagined things would go so wrong - that she'd end up here, on a scuffed metal gurney in a coroner's office far from home. Still, at age 22, she was old enough to know the dangers of stealing across the U.S. border from Mexico onto a lethal desert landscape, where she would have to take crazy chances amid the heat, cold and rattlesnakes to avoid capture by la migra , the U.S. Border Patrol. Her body was found in early 2009 near a service road, a two-day walk from the border.

In a case that U.S. prosecutors said started with a disputed $200 bill, a Tucson contractor has been convicted of a chemical attack on a customer's house--and is accused of leaving feces, dead woodpeckers and graffiti behind too. A federal jury in Tucson recently found 49-year-old Todd Russell Fries guilty of unlawful possession and use of a chemical weapon after he systematically harassed a couple who had stopped payment because they were unhappy...

TUCSON -- Investigators believe that Border Patrol agents involved in a likely "friendly fire" shooting that killed one officer responded from different directions in a dark, rugged canyon and may have misinterpreted their colleagues' actions on approach, officials said Saturday. Three agents fired unknowingly at each other after they separately responded to a tripped sensor in a rugged canyon in southeastern Arizona, Cochise County Acting Sheriff Rod Rothrock told The Times on Saturday.

The Ritz Carlton, Dove Mountain covers 850 desert acres of saguaro cactus in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains north of Tucson. The resort, which includes a spa and pool area, has some nice packages with breakfast or resort credits to enhance a fall or winter desert getaway. The deal: The Ritz Carlton's website features lots of packages and special offers, but these two turned out to be good values when I tested them. The Bed and Breakfast rate serves up daily breakfast for two at the hotel's CORE Kitchen or by room service for just $10 more than the standard room rate.